Recruitment of Probationary Officers/Management Trainees in Participating Organisations, commonly known as IBPS PO, is conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). This exam is conducted to fill up eligible candidates for the post of Probationary Officers/Management Trainee (PO/MT). IBPS provides recruitment and training services to a common standard for public sector banks (PSB). The exam consists of prelims, mains and interview. Application for the exam is made online and any graduate can apply for the exam following the eligibility criteria.
In this article, candidates will get familiarized with the exam, syllabus, registration, application, admit card, results and vacancies.
Table of Contents
- IBPS PO – Latest Updates & Highlights
- IBPS PO – Key Dates
- IBPS PO – Registration, Exam Pattern & Syllabus
- IBPS PO 2021 – Selection Process
- IBPS PO – Admit Card
- IBPS PO – Result and Cut off
- IBPS PO – FAQs
- Q. Can a candidate appearing in graduation final year apply for IBPS PO exam?
- Q. Can candidates who are 19 years of age be eligible for the IBPS PO exam?
- Q. What is the medium of instruction in the IBPS PO exam?
- Q. How is the final merit list prepared in the IBPS PO Exam?
- Q. Is there a minimum score required in graduation to be eligible for IBPS PO exam?
- Q. Does IBPS release the answer key for the PO exam?
IBPS PO – Latest Updates & Highlights
Latest Updates
- IBPS PO application form 2021 is expected to be released in August 2021.
- IBPS PO prelims exam 2021 is estimated to begin from 9th October 2021.
The precise exam event dates regarding IBPS PO 2021 exam will be notified by the Institute in August 2021. For this year’s exam, IBPS PO 2021 registration portal is expected to open in the month of August 2021 tentatively. The IBPS PO 2021 prelim exams are scheduled to be on 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th October 2021 and IBPS PO Mains exam on 27th November 2021.
Features of the IBPS PO Exam 2021
| Mode of Examination | Online |
| Recruitment Stages | Prelims, Mains and Interview |
| Duration | Prelims: 1 hour (60 minutes) Mains: 3 hours 30 minutes |
| Language | English and Hindi |
| Official Website | https://www.ibps.in/ |
IBPS PO – Key Dates
In the below table, candidates will find al the imporatnt information like the upcoming tentative dates of IBPS PO 2021 registration, last date to submit application, admit card, prelim exam, prelim result, scorecard, main admit card, main exam, main result, call for interview and final results (provisional allotment of posts).
| IBPS PO 2021 Events | IBPS PO 2021 Dates (Tentative) |
| Release of application form | August 2021 |
| Last date to apply | August 2021 |
| Editing of application form | August 2021 |
| Fee payment | August 2021 |
| Last date to print the application form | September 2021 |
| Prelims exam | 09-Oct-2021 10-Oct-2021 16-Oct-2021 17-Oct-2021 |
| Mains exam | 27-Nov-2021 |
| Call for Interview | To Be Announced |
| Provisional Allotments | To Be Announced |
Read More – Civil Services (IAS) Exam – Notification, Application, Syllabus, Vacancies
IBPS PO – Registration, Exam Pattern & Syllabus
Candidates who wish to apply for IBPS PO have to fulfil the predetermined eligibility criteria to register and sit for the exam. The below table will highlight the eligibility criteria of IBPS PO in terms of domicile, educational qualification and age.
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be an Indian citizen or subjects of Nepal/ Bhutan are also eligible
- Candidates who are Tibetan Refugees and came to India before January 1, 1962 may apply.
- People of Indian origin who migrated from Pakistan/ Burma/ Sri Lanka/ Kenya/ Uganda/ the United Republic of Tanzania/ Zambia/ Malawi/ Zaire/ Ethiopia/ Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling down in India may apply.
- Candidates must be between 20 to 30 years. Age relaxation of five, three and ten years is given to SC/ ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), and PwD candidates, respectively.
- Any graduate can apply for IBPS PO exam.
IBPS PO 2021 – Selection Process
IBPS PO application form 2021 is expected to release in August 2021. The online registration process is expected to be a lengthy process and application submission for the same will be more than lakhs (predictable).
IBPS PO application process 2021 comprises online registration, application and fee payment. The foremost thing candidates need to do is register themselves for the exam. They need to visit the official IBPS PO website, register themselves, fill up the application form and submit it after paying the application fee.
The selection process related to IBPS PO begins with the following steps:
- Filling an application form
- Release of admit card
- Prelim and Main exams
- Interview
- Declaration of results
Candidates have to pay their application fee via online mode [Debit Cards (RuPay/Visa/Master Card/Maestro), Credit Cards, Internet Banking, IMPS, Cash Cards/Mobile Wallets].
Documents Required while Registering for the IBPS PO Exam 2021
- Scanned photograph and signature
- Left thumb impression
- A handwritten declaration
- Bank details to pay the form fees
- Graduation marksheet details
- Email ID and contact number
IBPS PO 2021 Registration Process:
- Applicants will have to visit the official website of IBPS
- Click the link ‘New Registration’
- Enter name, phone number, email id and security code
- When you have successfully registered, a provisional registration number and password is generated and sent to email ID.
- After registering, candidates need to upload a photograph, signature, left thumb impression and handwritten declaration.
- Then, you have to fill the detailed form with basic details, educational qualification, work experience and preferences.
- Preview the application and proceed to pay the application fee in the next step.
- The application is integrated with payment gateway and payment can be made using debit or credit cards.
- On successful completion of the fee payment, a receipt is generated. General students have to pay INR 600 and SC/ST/PWD candidates have to pay INR 100.
Exam Pattern, Syllabus and Preparation
An overview of the IBPS exam pattern is as following:
| Questions | Prelims: Objective Type Mains: Objective & Descriptive Type |
| No. of questions | Prelims: 100 Mains: 157 ( including 155 objective-type and 2 descriptive-type questions) |
| Marks in each exam | Prelims: 100 Mains: 225 Interview: 100 |
| Language | English and Hindi |
| Negative marks | 0.25 |
Exam pattern for the Prelim Exam
| Subject | Questions | Marks | Duration (mins) |
| English Language | 30 | 30 | 20 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 35 | 35 | 20 |
| Reasoning Ability | 35 | 35 | 20 |
| Total Marks | 100 | 100 | 60 |
Prelims of IBPS PO comprises three sections – English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability. The test paper contains 100 objective-type multiple-choice questions. The maximum marks allotted to the test is 100. You get a total time duration of 60 minutes. Time allotted to each section is 20 minutes. One has to qualify each of the three tests by securing the minimum IBPS PO cut off marks. Once you obtain a qualifying mark for the preliminary exam, you get selected for the mains test. The marks obtained in the same will not be counted for final selection.
Mains Exam Pattern & Syllabus
Mains exam comprises both objective and descriptive type tests. The objective section of the question paper carries 155 questions from Reasoning & Computer Aptitude, General/ Economy/ Banking, English Language and Data Analysis & Interpretation. You are given 3 hours to solve the objective paper.
The total marks allotted for the objective section is 200 and the descriptive section carries 2 questions from English Language (Letter Writing & Essay) for which duration of the descriptive paper is 30 minutes. The total marks allotted to the descriptive paper is 25 marks. At the end, both marks from objective and descriptive tests will be considered for shortlisting for final interview. The marks obtained in mains are considered in the final selection of the candidates.
| Subject | Questions | Duration (mins) | Marks |
| English | 35 | 40 | 40 |
| Data Interpretation and Analysis | 35 | 45 | 60 |
| Reasoning and Computing skills | 45 | 60 | 60 |
| General Awareness | 40 | 35 | 40 |
| Total Marks | 155 | 180 | 200 |
| English (Essay and Letter Writing) | 2 | 30 minutes | 25 |
| Total (including essay) | 157 | 3 hours 30 mins | 225 |
The candidates should have been taught the topics covered in the exam, or else the candidates should have studied them in Class 10, 12 and graduation. The English section comprises reading comprehension, cloze test, para jumbles, fill in the blanks, etc. The Quantitative Ability section comprises topics such as Simplification, Profit & Loss, Work & Time etc. More details on the topics will be discussed in our other articles.
IBPS PO – Admit Card
The IBPS PO admit card is expected to released in September for IBPS PO 2021 exam. Here are the steps to download the admit card:
- Visit the official website of IBPS – www.ibps.in
- Click on the link ‘IBPS PO admit card’ on the homepage
- Enter the login credentials such as registration number or roll number, date of birth or password
- IBPS PO admit card 2019 for exam appears on the screen. You can download the admit card and take its printout.
IBPS PO – Result and Cut off
To check results, follow the steps below:
- Visit the official website of IBPS.
- Click on ‘result link’ and you can enter your registration details.
- Then, you will get results displayed on the screen. Consequently, you can download the results.
What does the scorecard contain?
- Name of candidate
- Roll number
- Registration number
- Date of exam
- Category
- Maximum score overall and section-wise
- IBPS PO cut off marks
- Overall marks and section wise marks
Cut off Marks
The cut off marks is the minimum score that examinees need to secure at an overall level and section level to qualify the exam and become eligible for interview.
The factors on which the the cut off marks are based:
- How many candidates have appeared for the exam?
- How difficult is the exam?
- Total marks
- Number of vacancies
IBPS PO – FAQs
Q. Can a candidate appearing in graduation final year apply for IBPS PO exam?
No, candidates must complete their graduation to be eligible for the IBPS PO exam.
Q. Can candidates who are 19 years of age be eligible for the IBPS PO exam?
No, to be eligible for the IBPS PO exam, the candidate’s age should be between 20-30 years.
Q. What is the medium of instruction in the IBPS PO exam?
Both English and Hindi are used as medium of instruction in the IBPS PO exam.
Q. How is the final merit list prepared in the IBPS PO Exam?
The mains marks and interview assessment is combined to select the best candidate for the post of probationary officers.
Q. Is there a minimum score required in graduation to be eligible for IBPS PO exam?
UPSC has not prescribed any minimum marks for graduation and students are eligible for the IBPS PO exam if they have completed their graduation.
Q. Does IBPS release the answer key for the PO exam?
No, IBPS does not release the answer key since it is an online mode exam.